Cutting Through the Darkness

﻿LET THERE BE PEACE Cesar Jaramillo, a diocesan seminarian studying at the Pontifical North American College (PNAC), Rome, visits an elderly man during a mission trip to El Salvador where he and other seminarians worked at an orphanage and a home for the elderly. During Holy Week Jaramillo and fellow PNAC students traveled to Egypt as Global Fellows of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to witness CRS’ work in addressing the needs of refugees who left war-torn Syria and peace-building efforts between Christians and Muslims.

﻿﻿Seminarian learns about lasting peace-building efforts by CRS during trip to Egypt for Holy Week

By
MICHAEL WOJCIK, News Editor

ROME ﻿﻿Will the world every see peace in the Middle East? It seems like a far-off dream today in this red-hot region of the world where the situation could not seem any more intractable or gloomy — endless political instability, war, terrorist attacks and religious persecution.

Yet today, Cesar Jaramillo still remains hopeful, after having experienced a shining moment in Luxor, Egypt, which cut through the darkness — a spirited conversation last month between groups of local Christians and Muslims of goodwill about how they can promote lasting peace.

In fact, Jaramillo — a third-year seminarian of the Paterson Diocese, who is studying for the priesthood in Rome — experienced many such moments of God-given hope, during a trip to Egypt for Holy Week as a Global Fellow of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). During his Easter break, he traveled to various locations throughout the ancient land with a contingent of fellow students from the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) in Rome. They witnessed CRS’ work in addressing the needs of refugees, who left war-torn Syria, and the difficult social-political situation in the Middle East. One initiative involves CRS and its partners helping local Muslim-Christian communities prevent violence and promote human dignity.

“It was incredible to sit in a room, full of Christians and Muslims, and to listen to them speak about their efforts to foment harmony and peace in their community. Unfortunately, I highly doubt we will ever hear of these efforts on the different news outlets. It is easy to judge the situation from the comfort of our homes, with preconceived notions, without realizing all the steps in the right direction that both Muslims and Christians are taking to live peacefully, as was the case for centuries in Egypt,” said the Colombian-born Jaramillo, who was able to speak throughout the trip to CRS staff at various sites and their clients. “As a Catholic seminarian, I feel the obligation to spread that message and to create awareness of what is actually happening, in Egypt at least. I was eager to witness how CRS, the official international humanitarian agency of the Church, lives out the principles of the Gospel in their relief efforts,” he said.

Jaramillo added, “Furthermore, I am enthused to look for ways in my future priestly ministry to create a greater sense of awareness regarding the social teachings of the Church in our own local Church of Paterson.”

During their CRS-sponsored trip, the seminarians from PNAC first visited Cairo, where they saw CRS programs that address refugee education. Each year, CRS provides thousands of refugee children — Syrians as well as refugees from other countries — with learning opportunities in public, private, and refugee-run school settings. For many refugees, this education is the only opportunity to receive an education as well as a sense of normalcy, said Nikki Gamer, the communications officer for CRS’ relief efforts in Europe, the Middle East and Central America.

“The personal stories were different all across the board. While most of the refugees came from Syria, many others came from neighboring countries that were also uprooted from their homes and forced to leave their homeland as a result of the troubling socio-political climate,” said Jaramillo, a Global Fellow, one of numerous priests and deacons, who have been trained and vetted to represent CRS across the U.S.

The seminarians also traveled to Luxor in upper Egypt to visit CRS’ peace-building program. There, the community has been segregated by faith that has prevented peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians. Also, these communities are isolated from each other, preventing open communication and sharing experiences and helping to shape misconceptions, distrust, tension and “aggressive attitudes” in the minds of the young people, said Gamer.

“Building off years of peace-building work, the CRS project aims to foster tolerance, co-existence and mutual respect across religious lines,” said Gamer, who noted that CRS works in some of the poorest, most vulnerable villages.

During the trip, the group of Global Fellows participated in Mass, visited the Missionaries of Charity and toured some of the major cultural and historical sites, such as the Pyramids, said Gamer.

Jaramillo’s recent mission trip to Egypt has intensified his passion for social justice — an interest that started to grow during a mission trip to El Salvador and Honduras that he and other PNAC seminarians took over Christmas break last year. He noted, “The idea to participate in this mission trip came after hearing Pope Francis’ invitation to reach out to the peripheries. Our Holy Father has often reminded us that, as followers of Christ, we should make a preferential option for the poor: the first of the principles of Catholic social teaching.”

In El Salvador, the seminarians worked with Franciscan Sisters at an orphanage and with a group of Catholic women at a home for the elderly. Jaramillo said, “The sisters dedicate themselves to caring for children, who have been either abandoned or have been the victims of violence in the gang-infested streets or in their own families. The orphanage is a haven of peace and hope and is a place filled with opportunities for these children to be educated and become upright citizens.”

Later, the seminarians traveled to Honduras, where they gave a few catechetical talks on mercy in light of the current Jubilee Year of Mercy and held Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, while local priests sat for hours at a time hearing confessions, Jaramillo said.

“It was incredibly inspiring to see how much they longed for the sacramental life of the Church — something we in the States often take for granted,” Jaramillo said. “Women and men alike prostrated themselves before our Lord in the Eucharist in thanksgiving for the blessings they have received from the Lord. It was perhaps the most authentic expression of gratitude that I have ever encountered,” he said.

Now back studying in Rome, Jaramillo, who was raised in Clifton and whose home parish is St. Anthony’s in Passaic, noted that the mission trip to Egypt gave him the “thrill of coming face to face with a different culture than the one I was brought up in: Western culture.” It also taught him more about the hardships that the people there face and about CRS’ efforts to address those challenges, he said.

“As I look forward to my ordination to the transitional diaconate, God willing, in September, I carry with me the faces of the many Muslim and Christian men and women I encountered and I ask Our Risen Lord to let His face shine upon the people of Egypt and all who are in the midst of this senseless violence and to bless the efforts of so many who, after the example of Christ, are giving up their lives for the sake of the kingdom,” Jaramillo said.